Browse lesson plans

African animals in habitats

This is an inquiry-based animal study for early childhood students centered around a visit to the African Continent of the North Carolina Zoo.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 Science)

By Sue McCullah.

Cloudy with a chance of... what?

Students will enjoy reading about a town where no one ever goes hungry because the sky provides food while learning about weather and healthy and unhealthy foods.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–3 English Language Arts, Healthful Living, and Science)

By BJ Larson and Paula Sharpe.

The emperor's prize egg

This lesson will introduce students to the life of a penguin. They will explore penguins' habitats, eating habits, and other unique adaptations that they use to survive in Antarctica.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Computer/Technology Skills, English Language Arts, and Science)

By Betty Burleson.

Family gardening in rural North Carolina

This lesson for grade one uses a series of activities related to plants and gardening to help students learn about gardening, plant life, families, and making healthy choices.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Healthful Living, Science, and Social Studies)

By Penny Willard.

Getting down & dirty with soils

In this lesson, we will explore different kinds of soil (humus, sand, clay). The students will plant seeds in the different soils as part of further exploration.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts and Science)

By Amy Rhyne, Paulette Keys, and Sarah Carson.

Getting to know spiders

This lesson is useful for helping students understand the differences between spiders and insects. They will also learn about a spider's particular body parts. Live spiders will be observed over the course of a few days to see how sound, light, and movement affect the spiders.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Science)

By Bree Welmaker.

Going batty

In this lesson students will hear the story Stellaluna by Janell Cannon and then create a Venn Diagram comparing bats to birds.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Information Skills and Science)

By DPI Integration Strategies.

Is it a duck? Is it a chick?

Students will compare and contrast the characteristics of a chick and a duckling by using a Venn Diagram.

Format: lesson plan (grade K English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science)

By Debbie Beeson.

Is it living?

Students will identify living and nonliving things.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 English Language Arts and Science)

By Genita Powell.

Mud feels good!

Students will listen to Mud Walk by Joy Cowley. Students will experience and describe mud using a bubble map to record their responses. Students will create a class book using chocolate pudding to imitate mud.

Format: lesson plan (grade K English Language Arts and Science)

By Amanda Mcalpine, Carol Elliott, and Ginny Devine.

Nature's checks and balances

This unit introduces students to several essential understandings. They will learn that plants and animals depend on one another for survival and organisms interact within nature to create a balance. They will also learn that humans can influence and manipulate nature.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Science)

By Nicolette Heise.

Nephelococcygia - Cloud watching

As part of the 2nd grade science objectives dealing with weather, students will learn the various types of clouds as well as the term and the act of nephelococcygia -- cloud watching.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Computer/Technology Skills and Science)

By Kelley James.

Using a Venn diagram to illustrate that bears and humans are both mammals.

Students use their collected information on bears to compare them to humans through a Venn diagram, as preparation for an introduction to mammals.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Mathematics and Science)

By Susan Lovett.

Whose habitat is that?

This lesson is designed to help students explore the surroundings animals find in a variety of habitats. This plan is written for the desert habitat but the same plan should be used for the exploration of a variety of habitat settings.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Kelly Stewart.

Resources on the web

Zoom School

An on-line school room with facts and images about geographic, scientific, and language-related themes. Pages of information and activities including printouts and quizzes for each topic. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Enchanted Learning